“I never read any treatises on strategy… When we fight we do not take any books with us”
Mao Tse- Tung, 1893-1976
In reflecting on an unpleasant or disagreeable experience, the thought of applying a different behaviour or action can suddenly appear to us, if only we had the opportunity to do it over. The problem is not that we think of the solution only when it is too late. The problem is that we imagine that knowledge is what was lacking: if only we had thought it through more thoroughly. That is precisely the wrong approach. What makes us go astray in the first place is that we are unattuned to the present moment and wholly insensitive to the circumstances. We are listening to our own thoughts, overly reacting to things that happened in our past, applying theories and ideas that were digested years ago but have nothing to do with our predicament in the present. More books, theories, and thinking only make the problem worse.
The greatest generals, the most creative strategists, stand out not because they have more knowledge, but they are able, when necessary, to drop their pre-conceived notions and focus intensely on the present moment. That is how creativity is sparked and opportunities are seized. The better we can adapt our thoughts to the changing circumstances, the more realistic our responses to them will be. The more we lose ourselves in pre-digested theories and past experiences, the more inappropriate and delusional it becomes.
Think of the mind like a river: the faster it flows, the better it keeps up with the present and responds to change. The faster it flows, also the more it refreshes itself with greater energy. Obsessional thoughts, past experiences (traumas or successes) and preconceived notions are like boulders in this river, settling and damming it up. The river stops moving, stagnation sets in. You must wage constant war on this tendency in the mind.
Transcendence is a guest writer. Enjoy his ramblings and writings at;
http://shadowsamurai.wordpress.com/
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